WHWS to Broadcast Geneva’s MLK Service

This year, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Colleges will again participate in a number of activities within the Geneva community and host events on campus to remember the civil rights leader. As the capstone to events dedicated to Dr. King, the Colleges will sponsor a keynote speech by Circuit Court Judge Helen Shores Lee titled, “From Dynamite Hill to Birmingham’s Hall of Justice: Celebrating Past Accomplishments & Embracing the Future.”

The speech will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Vandervort Room. Admission is free and all are encouraged to attend. Prior to the speech, there will be a lunch and community dialogue on race in the Seneca Room at 12 p.m. A conversation and book signing reception will be held at 5 p.m. in the Wasey Room of the Scandling Campus Center.

Lee, daughter of the late famed Birmingham lawyer and Civil Rights leader, Arthur Shores, was born and raised in Birmingham and experienced firsthand the difficulties associated with living in the south as an African American in the turbulent 50s and 60s. She captures her family’s struggles and fight for freedom in her book, “The Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill: The Untold Story of Arthur Shores and His Family’s Fight for Civil Rights.”

Lee is now a circuit court judge in Jefferson County, Alabama. In addition, she serves as a trustee for Leadership Birmingham and on the advisory board of Cumberland Law School. She also served as a member of the Alabama State Ethics Commission and as its chair from 1999-2000.

She attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., where she received a B. A. in psychology. Lee also holds a masters of arts in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University and graduated from the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada.

Members of the HWS community will take part in a number of other events, including the annual MLK Day parade through Geneva. The march will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20, at the Public Safety Building and will be followed by a program at the Presbyterian Church which will feature music by the MLK Memorial Choir, an announcement of the winners of the 2014 MLK Art and Poetry Contest and a fellowship dinner. WHWS 105.7 FM will broadcast the MLK Service live from the Presbyterian Church.

On Friday, Jan. 24, the Colleges will participate in their annual Day of Service, which will send 100 students to volunteer in the greater-Geneva community. Those interested in volunteering can contact the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning at 315-781-3825 or serve@hws.edu

On Monday, Jan. 27, the film “Four Little Girls” drected by Spike Lee will be shown in the Vandervort Room of the Scandling Campus Center at 7 p.m. followed by a discussion led by Assistant Professor of Political Science Justin Rose.